Concluding a long and strenuous week, the U-17 Jr. Dinos captured the Stars Season Opener in Okotoks, AB over the May 5-6 weekend. The Dinos won 4 games in two days to wrap up the tournament which was hosted by Foothills Composite High School including a 84-70 win over the Airdrie Elite East Chargers in the Final.

The Dinos opened the tournament on Friday night against another Calgary club program, Westide AAA White. Westside features great coaching by Ray Raymond of Lord Beaverbrook as well as former Jr. Dino player Doron Nand. Playing against a very well coached and disciplined team, the Jr. Dinos started the game a little slow, but were able to wear down the opposition with their depth. Westside featured some hot shooting in the second half that kept the game close, but the Dinos finished the game with a 20-0 run to make the final 106-71. The Dinos were lead by the hot shooting of Cam Perry who dropped 21 points. Other double digit scorers for the Dinos were Pierce Anderson with 18, Tyler Fidler with 12, while both Jordan Hone and Trevor Debolt added 10. In a well balanced attack, the Dinos Joey Theriault added 8, Taylor Norum 7, and Brennen Fule with 6. Once again, Ian Tomaszewski proved his worth on the defensive end of the floor frustrating one of the oppositions better shootings.

The Jr. Dinos opening round win set up a match-up with NSD Stars team out of Calgary. This game proved to be the Dinos best all-around effort of the year. With their stifling defense and all around offensive attack, the Jr. Dinos easily handled NSD 103-50. 6 players hit double digits for the Dinos included 2 players with Double Double’s: Tyler Fidler with 19 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 7 defensive touches, and Pierce Anderson who finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 assists, and 6 defensive touches. Other double digit scorers included Jordan Bachynski, who had his best game as a Jr. Dino adding 16 points to the Dinos attack, while Cam Perry added 12 points, while Brennen Fule added 10 points and 6 assists, and Joey Theriault notched 10 points and 6 rebounds on 4 for 4 from the field and 2 for 2 from the free throw line. Once again, the Dinos were able to frustrate the oppositions best players using Ian Tomaszewski, Kendall Boese, Trevor Debolt and Mike Berlando to defensively hound NSD’s perimeter.

Their win against NSD set up a match-up against a very quick and hot shooting Raymond team featuring provincial teamer Quinn VanGaalen. This game turned out to be a great one-on-one show between Quinn and Tyler Fidler. Quinn kept his team in the game with 29 points including 4 3-point field goals. The Dinos depth was just too much for Raymond as the Jr. Dinos won 90-78. Tyler Fidler was a force on both ends of the floor. Tyler finished the game with 32 points on 11-17 shooting including 5-7 from the 3-point line, and 5-7 from the charity stripe. Tyler also added 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 6 defensive touches. Once again, Pierce Anderson was a force in the point collecting 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. The third double digit scorer for the Dinos was Jordan Hone who poured in 14 points, and 8 rebounds. This game was marked by a Thunderous dunk late in the Second half in which Tyler Fidler was able to get in the lane and finish over 2 of Raymonds players. With the win, the Dinos were off to the finals against the Airdrie Elite East Chargers.

The Final was a see-saw battle in which both teams were fatigued from playing 3 games in 2 days. Airdrie features the great back court play of Zach McGee and Dallon Martin and the forceful inside talent of Dom Coward. Jumping ahead to an early 19-7 lead, Airdrie looked to have the advantage. Hurting the Dinos hopes even more was an injury to star forward Tyler Fidler who went down with a dislocated finger just minutes into the game, while losing guard Brennen Fule to cramping for most of the second half, and Pierce Anderson who went down with a bloody lip early into the second half. However, the spark from the bench was ignited by guard Kendall Boese, and Cam Perry stepped up with a great performance. The Dinos were able to go on a late first half run to lead 40-36 at the break.

The second half saw the Dinos play more consistently, and settle into the flow of the game despite the hot shooting of Airdrie. Zach McGee finished with 20 points, Dallon Martin with 18, and Dow Coward also had 18. But the Jr. Dino attack proved to be too deep as some late scoring by Ian Tomaszewski and Joey Theriault put the game away for good. The Jr. Dinos captured the tournament 84-70. The Jr. Dinos were lead by Cam Perry, who had a great all around tournament with 15 points. The most consistent and most outstanding performer all weekend for the Jr. Dinos was Pierce Anderson who finished the finals with 14 points and 9 rebounds while Jordan Hone added 13, Brennen Fule nothced 11 before leaving the game early in the second half and Joey Theriault added 10. Mike Berlando also had a strong game scoring 9 points, while Ian Tomaszewski was great once again scoring 7 but hustling at both ends of the floor.

The Jr. Dinos resume play on Tuesday May 9 at Meadowbrook Jr. High in the Airdrie Spring League agains the Roswell Rayguns. Game time is at 8:30. The Dinos continue tournament action on May 19 in the Calgary Selects Opener in Calgary.

The U-16 Boys opened up the Star Opener Tip-off Tournament with a rematch against the Westside A team, a team that consisting of grade 12’s
and a sprinkle of 11’s and 10’s. The teams played each other last week in a exhibition game with Westside prevailing 84-40. The Jr. Dinos answered with hard play as they competed and outworked the opposition creating a very entertaining game. The final score was a 66-55 win for Westside. The Jr. Dino’s have shown that they can compete with older club teams and their hard work ethic is second to no one. Top scorers for the Dinos were Chris Loubardeas with 11 points and 9 rebounds, 6 steals, while Tyson Kwasney added 10 points, 4 rebounds, Connor Curran with 8 points and 7 rebounds, and Adam Zywotkiewicz had 8 rebounds.

Saturday the U-16 Boys began with a very early morning game against the Foothills Falcons B Team. Right from the opening tip-off the Dino’s were off and running and had their most productive game of the year. Their hard work over the last few weeks has began to show on the court with the Dino’s winning their first game of the year 86-44. The top scorers included 2 players posting double/double’s: Jesse Denscombe with 11 points and 20 rebounds and Connor Curran with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Other top scorers for the team were Fraser Wayne with 12 points, and Ben Bertolami with 11 points.

The team then played in the afternoon against a very strong and quick team out of Cochrane. The opposition ran very well throughout the opening
half, and with continuous fast breaks were able to hold onto the lead throughout the 1st half. Finally the Dino’s were able to match the speed
of their opposition and their overall conditioning seemed to be the difference in the 2nd half as the Cochrane team began to run out of energy. The Final score was in favour of the Jr. Dino’s 73-58. Top performers for the Dino’s were Ben Bertolami with 22 points 12 rebounds, Fraser Wayne with 13 points 7 rebounds and Chris Loubardeas with 11 points. Adam Zywotkiewicz had 8 points and 16 rebounds.

The U-16 boys had 1 more match up for the consolation side final that matched them up with the Falcons A team which consisted of grade 12’s
and 11’s with a couple of 10’s. The Dino’s with their high tempo and hard work ethic through the first 3 games showed that they are human and
the energy level throughout the team was very low and their recovery was not enough as a result the Falcons won the contest 71-51. Top performers for the Dino’s were Tyson Kwasney with 9 points and 6 rebounds, Alex Daum with 8 points and 8 rebounds, Fraser Wayne and Ben
Bertolami each with 8 points.

A very good tournament for the team as their hard work is beginning to show on the court with their next test the Selects Basketball Tournament
which will be run May 19-20.

By Coach Randy Peron